Here are the first batch of evals. I don’t have the bandwidth to come up with something super innovative this time around, or tell you which best picture winner quote describes each team, but I will be posting my fully subjective RaggedRatings once I get through the last of the evals, which should pretty much coincide with division draft.
1 berkelon - LeBron James, Nikola Vucevic, Shawn Marion, Bobby Jones, Jakob Poeltl, Kyle Lowry, Joakim Noah
I like what I’m seeing here to start. TS should be good when Poeltl isn’t at the line, and rebounding looks nice across the board. Sneaky amount of passing. Defense will likely be above average, with better stocks than baseline defense. It would be nice to add a true perimeter threat outside of Lowry and you seem to have the available guard minutes to do so.
Bobby Jones is such a nice pick where you got him. Your first three selections bring low enough fouls that you could afford to absorb his, and he doesn’t always have crazy high turnovers. I guess he went in the fifth last season but this is basically a fifth round pick too, and I still like it. With that said, I like Poeltl but am not sure if I agree with doubling down on that strategy right afterward. I like Lowry, Noah is fine but not amazing, the rebounds are helpful.
If I were quibbling, you could have gone higher upside with your 2/3 picks, something like replacing Vucevic with a higher upside, lower minute player like Timelord or Kessler or maybe Haliburton. And I like the value of Poeltl but am not sure on the fit, as I get into below.
You missed the playoffs last year but I like this build considerably better, I’m expecting this team to make the playoffs, probably fairly comfortably.
Favorite pick: Bobby Jones
Questionable pick: Poeltl, because he hurts you at the FT line, fouls, and doesn’t bring 3s
Who I would have taken (with perfect 20/20 hindsight): Ginobili or Otto Porter
2 redbooda - Steph Curry, Dwyane Wade, Grant Hill, Bobby Portis, Mel Daniels, Alperen Sengun, Malcolm Brogdon
You had me with the Steph/Wade start. A bit guard heavy in a league where rebounding is premium, but both good values. You lost me starting in the third though. Grant Hill shouldn’t be drafted at all, let alone in the third. There are a few Hill seasons you could go with but I don’t view any of them as even solidly above average.
I am lower on Portis than consensus but the rebounding at the three is really welcome here. Mel Daniels… meh. The rebounding and paint presence were a fit, but he doesn’t defend at a high level, and Sengun sure as hell doesn’t either. Sengun brings pretty TS, rebounds, and assists, which certainly sounds good, but he gives so much of that value back everywhere else, and I just don’t think he fits with what your team needed. I guess at this point he’s basically undrafted so I can’t be too mad at it though.
The perimeter play should be pretty solid but I just don’t like your 3/4/5 enough to see this team going very far. I have this squad on the fringes of the playoff race.
For the record – good with Curry second here. You can find at least one plus plus board lord still at the end of the second, while the guards available have more significant drawbacks compared to what Steph brings.
Favorite pick: Bobby Portis
Questionable pick: Grant Hill
Who I would have taken: Tyson Chandler or Walker Kessler
3 Midge - Wilt Chamberlain, Bam Adebayo, Christian Wood, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Manu Ginobili, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Brandon Rush
At first glance I wasn’t in love with the Bam pick, but he is basically going in the third here which I guess is about right. He reinforces some of your strengths and Wilt lets you take on his rebounding, though he doesn’t help with turnovers, or 3s.
This is probably the right spot for SGA though personally I’d have liked the roster better with one of the guards I mention below and one of the options on the board, which was still very strong.
I’m not totally sold on Bogdanovic or Rush, though I know they’re basically undrafted. I just can’t see either consuming enough usage for the EFG or TOs, which are nice, to matter a ton. I’d have probably looked to reinforce rebounding instead of taking Rush.
I’ve been nitpicking a bit but I do really like this team, which is has got to be around 210 minutes just from drafted players alone. I think you’ll be back in the playoffs this year, somewhere in the mid to high forties wins.
Favorite pick: I’ll recuse myself from Ginobili since I pushed you to take him. Christian Wood
Questionable pick: Bam or Rush
Who I would have taken: I would have kept Wood, and paired him with Wade instead of Bam and found 3s later, or taken MPJ or Haliburton. And then not taken SGA. I am not sure if I’ll draw heat for this but to me Manu is clearly superior to SGA especially when you need 3s and usage is not at an absolute premium.
4 ysw128 - Giannis Antetokounmpo, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson, Kevin Love, Andrew Bogut, Derek Harper, Tree Rollins
Like with redbooda, this feels a little like a team that overinvested in perimeter play, and maybe ended up a little half-baked as far as big men go.
No objection to Giannis in the first. I do like the Scottie fit here, even if there were some higher upside options still on the board. I don’t think you needed both Scottie and Magic though – if they’re part of a scoring punch at the 2 then at least the usage lines up but neither bring especially strong EFG or TO% to the table. I know this is about par for both of their ADP, but I’m just not a huge fan of Magic here, especially given the fit.
Then you got to the big men (and Derek Harper, who is just about the full opposite). I’m fine with Love, who I am guessing will backup Giannis in some capacity, and am good with Bogut here. I used to be a big Tree user, I’ve soured on him more recently but this team seems like a good fit and it’s tough to argue with the value.
The passing should be good but weighed down by turnovers, defense is nice but fouls are a concern, and you’re looking at some mediocre free throw percentages. Shooting will be average-above average I think, weighed down a little by Magic and Scottie depending on your Magic season. I like this squad reasonably well after having gotten more into the weeds. I see you being right around the playoff hunt.
Favorite pick: Tree
Questionable pick: Magic (I’ll avoid saying Harper since he went so late)
Who I would have taken: Christian Wood in Scottie’s spot, or Boucher/Chandler/Kessler of the options on the board when Magic went
5 pointfwd - Dwight Howard, Bill Walton, Donovan Mitchell, Victor Oladipo, Shawn Kemp, Chris Andersen, Nate McMillan
Wow, my board tells me I really like these picks. Turnovers do stand out as a potential weakness, which Mitchell, Oladipo, and Walton will help mitigate a little but maybe not a whole lot. And you’re not exactly getting a ton of passing to go with the turnovers.
But you can work on that with your free agents, and there’s a lot of other stuff going on here that I really like. Like your usage being basically finished and with all reasonably high EFG players. Rebounding looks good and defense is potentially elite.
This team is the right undrafted role players away from being really competitive. I see this team doing significantly better than your last season and have you on track to make the playoffs.
I’ll also add that, to me, Jokic holds the #5 spot in a cap neutral world, and quite a few worlds with caps as well. Which Jokic season is a whole different question… Howard then would *probably* be my number six but I’ve been picking in the middle or back of so many drafts recently that I haven’t had to think too hard about it in a while.
Favorite pick: Oladipo
Questionable pick: Kemp – arguably brings value in the fifth, but not sure he’s a fit with Dwight already drafted, and I feel similarly about doubling down on those issues with Birdman
Who I would have taken: I would have considered taking the hit to defense and getting cleaner on offense by taking Porzingis instead of Kemp
6 copernicus - Nikola Jokic, Nic Claxton, Tyson Chandler, Zach LaVine, Richaun Holmes, Danny Green, Khris Middleton
These picks are all really smart. Like I mentioned above, I’m a fan of Jokic here. The TS should be immaculate, you have lots of great 3pt shooters (you will probably be seeing some + defenses), fouls are manageable. There isn’t a ton of passing outside of Jokic but you still have some guard minutes to fill and Jokic covers so much of that anyways. And you’ve kept turnovers fairly low.
Defense, particularly perimeter defense and steals, is looking a bit more iffy though. Danny Green can only cover so much on the outside, I think LaVine and Middleton could get torched in this league. With Holmes, Claxton, and Chandler I’m less worried about the interior but this definitely projects to be a below average defense. You also haven’t backed up Jokic yet; depending on how much usage you need from that spot it could be a little tricky. I’m sure you’ll be able to make it work though.
I see the offense powering this team into the playoffs but short of a bye, somewhere in the mid forties.
Favorite pick: Chandler
Questionable pick: Middleton
Who I would have taken: A guard who can defend like McMillan, or even Lowry
7 chewy3344 - Shaquille O’Neal, Kyrie Irving, Marcus Camby, Serge Ibaka, Otto Porter, Kemba Walker, Andre Iguodala
I am on board with pretty much all of these picks. You’ve put enough excess rebounding around Shaq that you could afford to add Kemba and Iggy late, both of whom were good value. This team shoots well, is clean, and has a lot of sources of passing.
My only quibbles are with Camby and Ibaka, both are pretty good picks but I liked a couple of options on the board better. And then I'm not fully in love with Kyrie but he was pretty much best available as far as Shaq compliments go - with maybe one exception. I do wonder if you were kicking yourself when Jimmy, Dame, Jrue, and Kidd all went right before you. Outside of maybe Kidd - or Jimmy if you were dead-set on 3 - I'd have preferred any of them over Kyrie.
But you're going to be really hard to guard, and should be stout on the defensive end too. I have this team in the no doubter contender tier, and think chewy will bounce back with a return to form after last season.
I'm also going to keep talking about first round order. Do I like Shaq here in the first? Short answer, I think so… but I wouldn’t really want to be in the 7-9 range in the first these days. I feel basically the same about MJ and Kareem below, too, it’s just tough to get amazing returns from those spots considering the downside of the long wait to pick again and the general flattening of value right around when Howard goes off the board.
Favorite pick: Otto Porter is such a nice fit here. It’s a raggedclaws endorsed backcourt
Questionable pick: Camby
Who I would have taken: Timelord or Walker Kessler would have brought a little more upside, albeit in fewer minutes, especially with budget barely a factor here.
8 riftonapple - Michael Jordan, Artis Gilmore, Draymond Green, Derrick Favors, Jarrett Allen, Derrick Rose, Tobias Harris
I’m OK with a lot of these pieces in a vacuum. But I don’t really like Gilmore or Draymond as a 2/3 in the draft, definitely not together with their high turnovers. I am on board with Favors and Allen, though I have issues with drafting Rose at all in the 52 and I’m not totally sold on Tobi either, at least he fits better than Rose.
No issues with MJ in the first, but I thought there were better options on the board in both 2 and 3. Gilmore and Draymond share many of the same weaknesses – high turnovers, medium high fouls, bad FTs. Draymond isn’t really a consistent source of 3s. Even if you didn’t want to add another guard after MJ, to me several players who went late 2nd/early 3rd like Claxton, Walton, Vucevic, and Wood would have made more sense.
I think the positives probably outweigh the negatives and trust Rifton to figure out the undrafted spots, but I have this squad squarely in the middle of the playoff race.
Favorite pick: Favors
Questionable pick: Derrick Rose. I know he’s a sixth rounder and I guess maybe he’s just for backing up MJ (best case scenario here) but I just don’t see him having a role in a 52 cap league.
Who I would have taken: Depending on what you’re looking for from Rose, any of the next guards taken (Kemba, Iguodala, Danny Green, Middleton) would have made more sense in my opinion since you aren’t in a crunch for usage
There ya go, you bastids. 2000+ words on 8 teams. I should be back tomorrow. Doing 'work' on a Sunday night like this reminds me of being in school.